mel jacobson on sun 5 jun 05
it is very thoughtful to be able to take down
a kiln that has had so much work and time
from kurt. but, as he has said, it is all about
learning, doing and moving on to new things.
that is what our camp is about. the first small
flat top came from kurt's encouragement to build
a quick fire, no hassle kiln with nil's design.
many have been enriched from that early experiment.
it is important to let some very intelligent people
have their heads and we all learn from it.
the tiny train served its purpose. we learned how to make
it work. now we move on to a new design.
john neely made a great leap when he designed the train.
it has served many well. we thank john for his sharing and
help. we understand his concept.
now we will let donovan work out some new ideas that
he has. it is important to him. we furnish the bricks, the
helpers, the tools and enthusiasm of a group of professional
potters. we all win. then we pass it on to clayart, or create
a set of plans. (we hope nice cad/easy to read and understand.)
it will serve a purpose. we never run out of ideas and projects.
more should gather friends and work towards `adult shared learning`.
it works.
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
mel jacobson on tue 28 jun 05
we are more than pleased with our new wood fired kiln
at the farm. donovan did a great job. in fact...fantastic.
this was a kiln with a great many experiments that worked.
as with most things, experiments mean it is the first time
we have done it.
he was thrilled the way the sand mold worked to build the body
of the kill. of course he had 10 experienced potters to help
him with the work...and without question many of us had to
hold our tongues and be followers, not leaders. this worked well.
can you imagine having behind your back kurt wild, tim frederich,
kerry brooks and me, plus his wife, colleen riley. hundreds of kilns built
over the years..and
i might add, very successful kilns. donovan is a consummate professional.
his idea was to make the kiln flat, use a nice firm concrete pad that
was already in place. we did the standard concrete block base, added
expanded metal to level and lift the kiln. it was made of hard brick.
one course of soft brick as insulation in the base.
he designed the base and built the base walls. we added the arched
fire box using a wooden form, and the chimney was started.
when it was time to start the body arch we added barrels and boxes
to the main chamber to fill space....with a john deere tractor with a bucket
we dumped the chamber full of sand. each slanted course of bricks was
supported by packed sand..as the kiln rose in height we just added more
sand. donovan thought he would have to do a japanese herringbone, but
it was not necessary, just standard arch courses were laid, we just kept
going til they two sides met.
the next step was to fill the entire top of the arch with castable. this
became the keystone system. then the entire kiln was covered with
a three inch base coat of castable. on the third day we covered the
entire kiln again with a 2 inch coat of castable, finished the chimney
and built the fire box front. almost all the bricks in the kiln were mortared
in place with high temp mortar. it was tight. we used nearly 50 bags of
castable.
as we were building the kiln, tim trederich and others built the building over
the kiln. it also contains a wood storage area between the uprights, a shelf
system to organize pots during loading. and a large bench made from a
5 inch cut slab of oak. we can stack 5 cords of slab wood under the cover
of the building.
with the many experienced hands in camp it was a breeze to get the work
done. not a minute was spent with...`how the hell do i do this?` just do
it. now. skill, experience and intuition as to completion. a nice place
to be.
many confident men and women. remember, our camp is half women, half men...
and a safe place for all. not once was a women's idea not given full support.
we are influence by experienced potters...gender has no place at hay creek.
they happen to be men and women...experienced potters.
we fired the kiln on the 6th day. it was a scramble as we had to prepare
and get wood, cut it, stack it, fire, make teams and get all the work done.
we were tired when we started...all 20 of us( and of course it was 95f and
humid).
but, we got after it.
made adjustments on the fly and tried to learn the kilns quirks. we got
through
all the stalls as expected...just let the kiln have her head. no rush, no
fights.
colleen and donovan ran the firing. we just followed orders.
it will be a 30 hour kiln. and that may extend out as we need to fire longer
for special affects. i am sure it will be fired three times a year. we
are planning
a woman's firing the end of summer. hay creek will fire it in october and
june.
it is a nice sized kiln...perfect in fact for a group firing...200
pots...of course we
need more big pots for the future...far too many shelves in the kiln...blocks
things off a bit.
the first firing was pretty much cone 12 for the entire kiln. we used 6 pounds
of salt for the first firing...just to tighten the bricks with a coat of glaze.
so, the pots had a nice salt effect. at least half the pots were racers.
it takes three people to load it. one deep inside, a passer of pots in the
middle
and a person in the door....adding smart pills, and passing in shelves and
pots.
it is an all day process to load.
that too will speed up as we learn a standard process.
so, hay creek has a wonderful 65 cubic foot single chamber wood fired kiln.
it is a dandy.
it is not a japanese kiln. in fact we think of it more as a flat ground hog.
no slope up. donovan thinks that many wood fired kilns with steps just
create blocks in the flow of heat.
debates...but who cares? it is our kiln and it works.
it has more qualities of the train kiln than an anagama.
we thank colleen riley for wanting the kiln at the farm...we thank donovan
for wanting to build it and run all of his experiments with us.
we thank the hands that built it and ran the errands and cut the wood
and cooked and cleaned and brought ice and cold drinks...we thank
those that refrained from drinking booze and making a serious event into
a party. we thank those vendors that helped us build it without any
strings. we used hundreds of used hard brick we had stored at the farm,
And we took down the train and included it...we used lots of seconds from
donovans stash.
if one was to have this kiln built at your home or school...i estimate:
$30,000.
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Andrew_M_Casto@PROGRESSIVE.COM on tue 28 jun 05
>when it was time to start the body arch we added barrels and boxes
to the main chamber to fill space....with a john deere tractor with a
bucket
we dumped the chamber full of sand. each slanted course of bricks was
supported by packed sand..as the kiln rose in height we just added more
sand. donovan thought he would have to do a japanese herringbone, but
it was not necessary, just standard arch courses were laid, we just kept
going til they two sides met.
Mel,
I'm curious about a couple of things with this...were these, 55 gallon
drums? Was it hard to get the barrels out after the arch was laid? I
suppose maybe the sand would act like ball bearings and facilitate easier
movement of the barrels. Also, which direction does your arch span? Fire
box to chimney, side wall to side wall?
My wife and I just finished a wood kiln at our house in Ohio...Our crew was
just us and my dad, 1 day a weekend for 8 months. A great bonding
experience. Our process was nearly all "how do i do this??" ... but we are
young with much to learn, and I think this was the right way. Next time we
could do it in at least 7 months!
Andy Casto
Sam Hoffman on tue 28 jun 05
Congrats to both kiln and crew!
It is always impressive to hear about a successful kiln
building/firing experience, but even more so when there is such a
healthy spirit of exploration and experimentation in the group. I have
seen images of Donovan's kilns, and would not hesitate to recommend his
fine design ideas and craftsmanship.
I think I have to side with Donovan with his philosophy of keeping the
floor of the kiln flat. While I have fired many anagamas that have
steps up to the flue, the more interesting effects have come from kilns
that are flat. Back in the day when these kilns were being developed,
the slope was necessary because the kiln itself was acting as a
chimney. Now, kiln design (and refractory materials) has progressed to
a point where we can simply build a large chimney on a flat kiln and
still generate the draw necessary to move flame through the kiln. With
a flat kiln, there is more potential to cover the pots in ash. In flat
anagama-style kilns, there is also great possibilities for carbon
trapping and "fuse" effects from the firebox, since the pots are on the
same level as the coals. The Kent State anagama is designed this way,
as is the kiln Donovan built for Don Reitz in Arizona.
When studying in Japan, I even heard about plans for a "down hill"
anagama, which would produce even more excessive ash than a flat
anagama. In addition to the front and sidestoking fireboxes, it is
necessary to have a small firebox at the base of the chimney to heat it
up and create draft. Interesting concept; I wonder how well it would
work in practice. I remember talking with Ben Krupka at Utah State
about a similar design. Maybe he'll be inspired out at the Bray and
give it a whirl...
I propose a toast to a job well done, Mel! We want to see pictures!
Hip-hip-hooray,
-Sam
On Jun 28, 2005, at 7:11 AM, mel jacobson wrote:
> we are more than pleased with our new wood fired kiln
> at the farm. donovan did a great job. in fact...fantastic.
>
> this was a kiln with a great many experiments that worked.
> as with most things, experiments mean it is the first time
> we have done it.
>
> he was thrilled the way the sand mold worked to build the body
> of the kill. of course he had 10 experienced potters to help
> him with the work...and without question many of us had to
> hold our tongues and be followers, not leaders. this worked well.
> can you imagine having behind your back kurt wild, tim frederich,
> kerry brooks and me, plus his wife, colleen riley. hundreds of kilns
> built
> over the years..and
> i might add, very successful kilns. donovan is a consummate
> professional.
>
> his idea was to make the kiln flat, use a nice firm concrete pad that
> was already in place. we did the standard concrete block base, added
> expanded metal to level and lift the kiln. it was made of hard brick.
> one course of soft brick as insulation in the base.
> he designed the base and built the base walls. we added the arched
> fire box using a wooden form, and the chimney was started.
> when it was time to start the body arch we added barrels and boxes
> to the main chamber to fill space....with a john deere tractor with a
> bucket
> we dumped the chamber full of sand. each slanted course of bricks was
> supported by packed sand..as the kiln rose in height we just added more
> sand. donovan thought he would have to do a japanese herringbone, but
> it was not necessary, just standard arch courses were laid, we just
> kept
> going til they two sides met.
>
> the next step was to fill the entire top of the arch with castable.
> this
> became the keystone system. then the entire kiln was covered with
> a three inch base coat of castable. on the third day we covered the
> entire kiln again with a 2 inch coat of castable, finished the chimney
> and built the fire box front. almost all the bricks in the kiln were
> mortared
> in place with high temp mortar. it was tight. we used nearly 50 bags
> of
> castable.
>
> as we were building the kiln, tim trederich and others built the
> building over
> the kiln. it also contains a wood storage area between the uprights,
> a shelf
> system to organize pots during loading. and a large bench made from a
> 5 inch cut slab of oak. we can stack 5 cords of slab wood under the
> cover
> of the building.
>
> with the many experienced hands in camp it was a breeze to get the work
> done. not a minute was spent with...`how the hell do i do this?`
> just do
> it. now. skill, experience and intuition as to completion. a nice
> place
> to be.
> many confident men and women. remember, our camp is half women, half
> men...
> and a safe place for all. not once was a women's idea not given full
> support.
> we are influence by experienced potters...gender has no place at hay
> creek.
> they happen to be men and women...experienced potters.
>
> we fired the kiln on the 6th day. it was a scramble as we had to
> prepare
> and get wood, cut it, stack it, fire, make teams and get all the work
> done.
> we were tired when we started...all 20 of us( and of course it was 95f
> and
> humid).
> but, we got after it.
> made adjustments on the fly and tried to learn the kilns quirks. we
> got
> through
> all the stalls as expected...just let the kiln have her head. no
> rush, no
> fights.
> colleen and donovan ran the firing. we just followed orders.
> it will be a 30 hour kiln. and that may extend out as we need to fire
> longer
> for special affects. i am sure it will be fired three times a year.
> we
> are planning
> a woman's firing the end of summer. hay creek will fire it in october
> and
> june.
> it is a nice sized kiln...perfect in fact for a group firing...200
> pots...of course we
> need more big pots for the future...far too many shelves in the
> kiln...blocks
> things off a bit.
>
> the first firing was pretty much cone 12 for the entire kiln. we used
> 6 pounds
> of salt for the first firing...just to tighten the bricks with a coat
> of glaze.
> so, the pots had a nice salt effect. at least half the pots were
> racers.
>
> it takes three people to load it. one deep inside, a passer of pots
> in the
> middle
> and a person in the door....adding smart pills, and passing in shelves
> and
> pots.
> it is an all day process to load.
> that too will speed up as we learn a standard process.
>
> so, hay creek has a wonderful 65 cubic foot single chamber wood fired
> kiln.
> it is a dandy.
> it is not a japanese kiln. in fact we think of it more as a flat
> ground hog.
> no slope up. donovan thinks that many wood fired kilns with steps just
> create blocks in the flow of heat.
> debates...but who cares? it is our kiln and it works.
> it has more qualities of the train kiln than an anagama.
>
> we thank colleen riley for wanting the kiln at the farm...we thank
> donovan
> for wanting to build it and run all of his experiments with us.
> we thank the hands that built it and ran the errands and cut the wood
> and cooked and cleaned and brought ice and cold drinks...we thank
> those that refrained from drinking booze and making a serious event
> into
> a party. we thank those vendors that helped us build it without any
> strings. we used hundreds of used hard brick we had stored at the
> farm,
> And we took down the train and included it...we used lots of seconds
> from
> donovans stash.
>
> if one was to have this kiln built at your home or school...i estimate:
> $30,000.
> mel
> from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
> website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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>
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>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
S.L. Hoffman Pottery
Corvallis, Oregon
www.samhoffman.com
Kurt Wild on thu 14 jul 05
You can see my photo album of the "Flatagama" - "farm wood kiln"
construction by going to http://kurtwild.myphotoalbum.com/ht
You can just start right out and click "start sideshow" and run through the
whole bunch with out any captions; or,
you can click on the photo at the right, then thumbnails of all the
pictures in the album will come up and you can navigate through them one at
a time. Only the first two photos have captions. Eventually I'll get to
the rest of them.
If you missed Mel's complete discussion of the project you can read it by
going to the Clayart archives at
http://lsv.ceramics.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0506D&L=CLAYART&P=R15312
and
http://lsv.ceramics.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0506D&L=CLAYART&P=R16373
Kurt
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